Friday, December 29, 2006

So the whole blogging-every-day-in-November didn't pan out for me. Between the pregnancy sleepies and the daily care of a not-yet toddlering toddler, I was too tired at night to write. I did have a lot to say though, so I'll try to get caught up.

Frying

I couldn't find it on his website, but Alton Brown did a show on deep frying where he said basically the same thing that Wikipedia did:

If performed properly, deep frying does not make food excessively greasy because the moisture in the food repels the oil. The hot oil heats the water within the food, and steams it from the inside out. As long as the oil is hot enough and the food is not immersed in the oil too long, oil penetration will be confined to the outer surface layer and none will actually reach the center of the food.

He also demonstrated that, properly done, that there was only a teeny amount of oil that did not remain in the pan. It was insane like a tablespoon or something for a batch of fried chicken. I wish I could have found the exact quote, but whatever. So, take that, know-it-all people who think I'm a horrible mother for feeding my son some wok-fried chicken (it was NOT deep fried or battered!!!) on a special occasion when we went out to a restaurant.

Horace and Doris Beans

I can't remember why, but I wanted to blog about this recipe that's been in my family since my grandparents' time. When they were a young couple they had some friends that were called Horace and Doris after characters on a radio show. I think the wife may have been my grandma's cousin, but I'm not sure anymore. At any rate, I thought that my grandpa considered it a big secret so was afraid he wouldn't want to share the recipe. It turned out he was thrilled that someone else in the family wanted to make it. I started taking them to company bbq's and then making them for family occasions so Grandpa could have a break (there's a lot of mincing/dicing involved). It is the special food that will always make me think of him and what he and Grandma must have been like as a young couple.

Monday, December 25, 2006

First, we are back from the hospital and The Biscuit is doing well. It was an interesting trip. We only expected to be there overnight at the most and he had to stay 3 nights. Luckily I have a wonderful husband who let his pregnant wife come home and sleep in our bed while he slept at the hospital. That part of this scary experience was wonderful.

What I really wanted to take a second to write about was sewing machines. Very Mom / Kerflop had a discussion about sewing machines and sergers and I missed out on making a comment. Since it's not a topic I want to keep quiet about I thought I'd just write my own post. Feel free to go and read the discussion for yourself if you'd like.

Being from a family that sells and repairs sewing machines and vacuums means I have a fairly strong opinion on this. I wouldn't want anything but a Singer from back when they were actually made in the US and had some weight to them. As far as sergers go, my mom got me one exactly like hers -- a White BabyLock -- and I would be totally chicken to use something that I couldn't call and ask her a question about.

Didn't take much room, but I had to get it out there. Oh, and if Kerflop herself comes over to see who linked to her entry I have one more idea. Why not look for a shop that does repairs and not just a dealer? You would be amazed at what some manufacturers require of a small shop in order for the shop to call themselves a dealer. Very high sales volume and sometimes exclusively selling their products. My uncle's shop started out as my grandpa's Singer dealership, but I'm not even sure if they are able to call themselves that anymore, because of the volume required. And frankly, people want to buy their machines at Wal-Mart and then throw them away instead of have them repaired. It's more of a problem with vacuums, but still, that's the mind-set out there so it's really hard for a small family business to sell enough product to be called a "dealer" -- and I'm guessing that the same is true in Idaho as it is here in Northern California.